By: Inquirer.net
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) returned to profitability in the third quarter as the economy gradually reopens following the lockdown protocols imposed by the government since mid-March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
SMIC posted P8.11 billion in net profit in the third quarter, down by 19 percent year-on-year. This, however, marked a turnaround from the net loss of P1.91 billion incurred in the second quarter.
This brought SMIC’s consolidated net income to P15.2 billion from January to September, down 54 percent year-on-year. Consolidated revenue for the nine-month period was 18 percent lower year-on-year at P286.7 billion.
However, SMIC’s revenue rose by 36 percent in the third quarter to P101.1 billion from P74.4 billion in the second quarter.
The P8.11-billion third quarter net profit exceeded the P7.09 billion bottom line for the whole of the first semester 2020.
SM Retail posted a net profit of P2.2 billion for the nine-month period, down by 73 percent from the same period last year. Nine-month revenue fell by 15 percent year-on-year to P216.3 billion.
Food retail revenue grew by 11 percent in the first nine months, with convenience store chain Alfamart posting an increase of 27 percent. Alfamart is slated to open its 1,000th store on Nov. 11. Despite the challenges brought about by the pandeÂmic, Alfamart is on track to open more than 250 stores in 2020.
Revenue of the department store segment under SM Store hit P10.5 billion in the third quarter, up by 109 percent from the second quarter, while specialty stores posted 93-percent quarter-on-quarter revenue growth to P14.2 billion.
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